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GEORGE  ROWLAND  JUNIOR 


NEW     BEDFORD     MASSACHUSETTS 

Privately  Printed 

1892 


K.  ANTHONY  &  SONS,  Incori>.,  PRINTKHS, 
NEW  BEDFORD,  MASS. 


LIBRARY 

Y;    OF  <:.\UFORM 

'i'.'i  iJAiliiAUA 


NOTE 

At  the  request  of  the  trustees  of  the  New  Bedford  Free 
Public  Library,  I  have  prepared  this  biographical  sketch  of 
their  former  associate.  There  were  many  details  in  the  long 
and  active  life  of  George  Rowland,  junior,  which  I  should 
have  been  glad  to  relate  more  at  length,  had  not  the  lapse 
of  years  made  extended  information  impossible.  Among 
those  who  have  courteously  rendered  me  assistance,  I  am 
particularly  indebted  to  Mrs.  Frederic  S.  Gifford  and  to  Mr. 
M.  Morris  Rowland. 

WILLIAM  L.  R.  GIFFORD. 

NEW  BEDFORD  FREE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY, 

10  November,  1892. 


It  is  granted  to  but  few  men  to  hold  for  so  long  a  time 
a  place  in  the  life  of  a  community  such  as  George  How- 
land,  jun.,  filled  in  that  of  New  Bedford.  For  more  than 
sixty  years  he  was  connected  with  the  whaling  industry, 
to  which  New  Bedford  owes  its  early  growth  and  a  large 
part  of  its  wealth ;  and  during  the  greater  portion  of  this 
time  he  almost  constantly  held  some  office  of  public  trust. 
Whatever  duty  fell  to  his  share  received  the  careful  atten- 
tion of  one  who  never  slighted  details  in  anything  which 
he  undertook ;  and  to  the  recognition  of  this  trait  of  his 
character  may  be  traced  many  of  the  responsibilities 
which  devolved  upon  him  and  which  helped  to  shape  the 
course  of  his  life. 

George  Rowland,  jun.,  the  son  of  George  and  of  Eliz- 
abeth (Rowland)  .Rowland,  was  born  in  New  Bedford, 
October  20,  1806.  The  house  of  his  father  then  stood 
on  what  is  now  Bethel  street,  on  land  at  present  covered 
by  the  Standard  building ;  and  here  his  earliest  years 
were  spent.  In  his  boyhood,  he  attended  a  private  school 
and  also  the  Friends'  Academy  in  New  Bedford,  which 
had  then  been  recently  established,  and  of  which  his 
father,  George  Rowland,  senior,  was  one  of  the  early 
trustees.  When  the  younger  George  was  ten  years  old, 


his  father  sent  him  to  live  with  a  French  family  in  New 
York  city,  in  order  that  he  might  acquire  a  knowledge  of 
the  French  language.  Here  the  boy  remained  six  months  ; 
and  he  returned  home  with  the  object  of  his  visit  well 
fulfilled.  He  had  gained  a  facility  in  speaking  French 
and  also  a  love  for  that  language  which  he  retained,  with 
increasing  pleasure,  to  the  end  of  his  life.  The  last  of 
Mr.  Howland's  school  days,  which  closed  when  he  was 
fourteen  years  of  age,  were  passed  at  a  school  in  German- 
town,  Pennsylvania,  well  known  at  that  time.  It  was 
under  the  charge  of  John  Maitland  Brewer,  who  was  the 
first  master  of  the  Friends'  Academy  in  New  Bedford. 

After  leaving  school,  George  Howland,  jun.,  entered 
the  office  of  his  father,  one  of  the  foremost  merchants  of 
his  day  in  New  Bedford,  and  the  agent  of  many  vessels 
engaged  in  the  whale  fishery.  The  elder  George  built 
the  wharf  at  the  foot  of  North  street  and  also  the  stone 
building  now  standing  there,  in  which  for  many  years  he 
conducted  the  business  of  candle-making.  The  ability 
and  good  judgment  which  the  son  displayed  at  an  early 
period  supplemented  well  the  shrewdness  and  energy  of 
the  father,  and  their  ventures  prospered. 

April  30,  1829,  George  Howland,  jun.,  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Sylvia  G.  Allen,  the  daughter  of  James 
and  of  Sarah  (Howland)  Allen.  This  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  marriage  which  was  solemnized  in  the  pres- 
ent meeting-house  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  New  Bed- 
ford. Mr.  Daniel  Ricketson  makes  the  following  mention 
of  the  event  in  some  interesting  reminiscences  which  he 
not  long  ago  contributed  to  the  Standard: 


I  might  have  added  before  I  ended  ray  notice  of  the  old 
[Friends']  Academy  that,  at  the  time  of  the  marriage  of  the 
late  George  Rowland,  jun..  and  Sylvia  Allen  in  the  Friends' 
meeting-house  on  Spring  street,  the  pupils  were  dismissed  from 
school  in  time  to  attend  the  ceremony  during  the  afternoon. 
The  writer  was  one  of  the  boys  present  on  that  occasion,  and 
fifty  years  later  he  also  attended  the  golden  wedding  of  the 
above  at  their  late  residence  on  Sixth  street. 

After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Rowland  went  to  live  in  the 
house  which  is  still  standing  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Walnut  and  First  streets.  Here  he  continued  to  reside 
until  he  removed  to  the  brick  house  on  the  west  side  of 
Sixth,  between  Walnut  and  Madison  streets.  This  house, 
which  he  built  in  1834  and  in  which  he  lived  for  fifty-four 
years,  was  designed  by  Mr.  Rowland  himself,  and  he 
personally  prepared  the  working-plans.  In  fact,  he  never 
lost  an  opportunity  to  gratify  his  love  for  the  use  of  tools 
and  to  turn  his  knowledge  of  them  to  serviceable  account. 
Many  hours,  when  business  affairs  did  not  demand  his 
attention,  were  spent  in  the  wood-working  shop  of  Ed- 
ward Bierstadt  and  in  the  ship-yard  of  Zachariah  Hillman. 

The  following  incident,  which  Mr.  Rowland  once  re- 
lated, will  answer  as  an  example  of  many  more  of  its 
kind.  He  was  making  a  brief  visit  in  Florida  and  met  at 
the  hotel  an  Englishman,  whose  yacht  had  received  a  seri- 
ous injury  in  the  planking  near  the  bowsprit.  No  artisan 
in  the  town  knew  how  to  repair  the  damage  properly,  and 
the  owner  found  himself  in  a  quandary.  Mr.  Rowland 
arose  very  early  the  next  morning  and  set  himself  to  work 
on  a  piece  of  wood  which  he  had  selected  the  previous 
evening.  When  the  owner  of  the  yacht  appeared,  he 


8 


found  his  boat  neatly  and  thoroughly  repaired.  His  sur- 
prise and  delight  amply  repaid  Mr.  Howland  for  his  early 
morning's  work. 

In  January,  1832,  George  Howland,  jun.,  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  corporation  of  the  New  Bedford  Institu- 
tion for  Savings,  of  which  he  remained  a  member  until 
the  time  of  his  death,  sixty  years  later.  In  1832,  he  was 
also  chosen  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  same  institution. 
This  latter  office  he  retained  until  January,  1877,  when 
he  was  no  longer  eligible  for  re-election.  A  Massachu- 
setts statute  of  1876  forbade  the  holding  of  office  in  more 
than  one  such  corporation  at  the  same  time.  As  Mr. 
Howland  was  president  of  the  New  Bedford  Five  Cents 
Savings  Bank,  he  necessarily  retired  from  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  other  organization.  He  was  clerk  of  the 
corporation  of  the  Institution  for  Savings  and  secretary 
of  the  board  of  trustees  during  the  years  1833-1837. 

The  New  Bedford  and  Taunton  railroad,  the  first  rail- 
road from  New  Bedford,  was  opened  July  1,  1840. 
George  Howland,  jun.,  was  one  of  the  original  stockhold- 
ers. While  the  road  was  in  process  of  construction,  some 
delay  occurred  in  the  shipment  of  the  iron,  and  Mr.  How- 
land  was  sent  to  England  to  attend  to  the  matter.  A  few 
extracts  from  the  brief  journal  which  he  kept  during  his 
absence  from  home  will  be  of  interest  to  those  who  knew 
him  : 

1st  mo.  28,  1840.  At  12  o'clock  left  New  Bedford  for  Bos- 
ton, on  my  way  to  New  York  to  embark  for  Liverpool.  Passed 
the  night  in  Boston  ;  and  at  7  a.  m.  of  the  29th  started  on  the 
railroad  for  Springfield.  At  4  p.  m.  took  stage-sleigh  for  Hart- 


ford,  which  place  I  reached  at  8  p.  in.,  expecting  to  stop  the 
night  and  take  the  railroad  in  the  morning  for  New  Haven.  In 
this  I  was  disappointed,  the  road  being  obstructed  by  snow. 
Found  it  necessary,  in  order  for  despatch,  to  proceed  forthwith  ; 
consequently  nine  of  us  procured  an  extra  conveyance  for  New 
Haven  and  arrived  there  at  five  the  next  morning.  Thence  to 
New  York  by  mail,  a  distance  of  76  miles,  [arriving]  at  10  p.  m. 
1st  mo.  31.  About  9  a.  m.,  in  company  with  a  friend,  went 
on  board  the  packet  ship  South  America,  Capt.  Bailey,  bound 
for  Liverpool.  Selected  my  berth  on  the  starboard  side  of  the 
ship,  directly  abreast  of  the  mizzen-mast,  state-room  no.  9. 
My  companion  is  a  young  man  from  New  York,  by  the  name  of 
Brush,  b}T  birth  a  German. 

A  storm  delayed  the  departure  of  the  /South  America 
until  February  3,  at  twelve  o'clock,  on  which  day  the  voy- 
age began.  In  the  evening,  Mr.  Howland,  to  use  his  own 
words,  "  thought  it  most  prudent  to  retire,  as  the  water 
was  getting  rather  rough."  An  attack  of  sea-sickness 
kept  him  below  for  about  two  days,  after  which  he  appar- 
ently enjoyed  the  voyage. 

2d  mo.  20,  11  a.  m.  Took  a  pilot  for  Cork  harbour,  where 
we  anchored  at  12  m.  After  getting  a  bite,  eighteen  of  us  pro- 
ceeded by  the  pilot  boat  for  the  Cove  of  Cork,  where  we  were 
detained  about  one  hour,  and  then  started  by  the  same  convey- 
ance for  the  city  of  Cork,  where  we  arrived  at  5  p.  m.  The 
custom-house  being  closed,  and  it  being  necessary  to  have  our 
luggage  examined  before  we  could  take  it  up  (we  having  been 
escorted  from  the  Cove  by  a  custom-house  officer),  it  was 
thought  proper  to  take  measures  to  have  it  passed  this  evening. 
Accordingly,  one  of  our  number  started  off  for  the  proper  offi- 
cer, whom  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  find  readily,  and  we  suc- 
ceeded without  further  difficulty.  At  7  p.  m.,  we  found  our- 
selves comfortably  settled  in  the  Imperial  Clarence  hotel. 

2d  mo.  21.     Took  a  short  walk  before  breakfast,  and  in  the 


10 


space  of  three-quarters  of  an  hour  saw  more  wretchedness  and 
poverty  than  could  be  found  in  all  the  state  of  Massachusetts. 
Afterwards,  walked  about  in  company  with  some  of  our  party 
and  made  a  general  examination  of  the  cit}r  of  Cork,  being  beset 
every  few  minutes  by  beggars  of  the  lowest  imaginable  kind. 
At  half-past  six,  six  of  us  took  Her  Majesty's  mail  coach  for 
Dublin  and  arrived  at  half-past  three  the  next  afternoon.  We 
passed  through,  as  far  as  we  saw  it,  for  the  most  part  a  highly 
cultivated  country  ;  but  as  to  the  dwellings  (here  called  cabins), 
they  are  miserable.  Some  of  them  are  constructed  of  mud, 
others  of  peat,  and  some  of  stone ;  all,  or  nearly  all.  with 
thatched  roofs.  The  inhabitants  corresponded  to  the  cabins. 
In  one  instance,  I  saw  the  horse,  and  in  another  the  pig  and 
chickens,  under  the  same  roof  with  the  family. 

2d  mo.  23.  It  being  First  day,  I  attended  meeting  at  ten 
o'clock  in  Eustace  st.  Had  a  silent  meeting,  excepting  just  at 
the  close  when  an  elder  read  the  publishment  of  two  couples. 
At  quarter-past  four,  left  for  the  railroad  d£p6t  to  go  to  Kings- 
town, a  distance  of  seven  miles,  and  took  the  steamer  Princess 
for  Liverpool.  After  a  rough  passage  of  seventeen  hours  (it 
being  usually  made  in  twelve),  we  arrived  at  Liverpool  and  took 
lodgings  at  the  Adelphi. 

Mr.  Howland  remained  but  a  few  days  in  Liverpool 
and  then  started  on  his  way  into  Wales,  where  lay  his 
destination.  After  a  coaching  journey,  taken  by  easy 
stages  through  a  region  abounding  in  beautiful  scenery, 
he  finally  reached  Ebbw  Vale  on  the  twenty-ninth  of 
February.  At  this  place  and  at  Nantyglo,  about  two 
miles  distant,  were  situated  the  two  establishments  which 
held  the  contracts  for  furnishing  the  iron  for  the  New 
Bedford  and  Taunton  railroad.  Mr.  Howland  learned  on 
his  arrival  that  the  last  of  the  iron  had  that  day  been 
shipped  to  Liverpool.  His  business,  therefore,  was 
speedily  finished ;  and  he  departed  at  once  for  London , 


11 


which  he  reached  March  5,  after  paying  brief  visits  by  the 
way  to  Newport,  Chepstow,  Bristol,  and  Bath. 

Mr.  Rowland  remained  five  days  in  London  and  made 
good  use  of  the  time  in  sight-seeing.  Thenee,  by  way  of 
Birmingham,  he  went  to  Liverpool,  where  he  was  de- 
tained a  week  by  business  affairs  relating  to  the  iron. 
From  that  time,  he  spent  about  a  month  travelling  in 
Wales,  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  England.  His  journal 
during  this  period  contains  many  interesting  accounts  of 
places  visited,  which  are  described  with  an  attention  to  de- 
tail seldom  bestowed  in  these  days  of  universal  travel  and 
of  elaborate  guidebooks.  As  this  portion  of  the  journal 
is  largely  of  a  descriptive  character  and  contains  little  of 
personal  interest,  no  further  extracts  need  be  made. 
Throughout  the  pages  of  this  little  diary,  the  mechanical 
turn  of  Mr.  Rowland's  mind  is  strongly,  though  uncon- 
sciously, indicated.  Wherever  he  went,  he  improved 
every  opportunity  to  visit  factories  of  whatever  kind  and 
to  inspect  the  notable  results  of  modern  engineering. 
Dimensions,  moreover,  of  every  sort,  he  jotted  down  ap- 
parently as  a  matter  of  course. 

April  28,  1840,  Mr.  Rowland  sailed  from  Liverpool  in 
the  packet  Patrick  Henry,  of  which  Joseph  C.  Delano  of 
New  Bedford  was  captain.  After  a  passage  of  twenty- 
eight  dnys,  the  vessel  arrived  at  New  York,  May  27. 


II 

In  November,  1839,  George  Rowland,  jun.,  was  one  of 
the  Whig  representatives  chosen  to  the  General  Court  for 
the  ensuing  year.  The  Mercury  in  announcing  the  result 
of  the  election  made  note  that  he  and  certain  others 
"were  voted  for  by  the  colored  Abolitionists."  This  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Howland,  like  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  New  Bedford,  was  an 
early  advocate  of  the  abolition  of  slavery. 

For  the  next  twenty-five  years,  George  Howland,  jun., 
held  some  active  political  office  during  a  large  part  of  the 
time.  After  serving  his  first  term  in  the  Legislature,  he 
was  re-elected  for  a  second.  In  April,  1842,  he  was  cho- 
sen one  of  the  selectmen  of  the  town  and  was  re-elected 
every  year  until  1847,  when  New  Bedford  became  a  city. 
The  first  city  government  was  organized  April  28,  1847, 
and  Mr.  Howland,  the  chairman  of  the  selectmen  of  the 
town,  made  declaration  of  the  election  of  a  mayor,  of  a 
board  of  aldermen,  and  of  a  common  council. 

In  1844,  Mr.  Howland  went  to  Europe  with  his  brother, 
Robert  B.  Howland,  who  was  then  about  eighteen  years 
old,  and  whose  health  had  been  injured  by  close  study. 
They  were  accompanied  by  their  brother-in-law,  Samuel 
B.  Parsons.  The  party  sailed  from  New  York,  December 


13 


10,  1844,  in  the  ship  Argo,  Captain  Caleb  Anthony,  and 
after  an  uneventful  voyage  arrived  at  Havre,  January  5, 
1845.  During  the  journey  on  the  continent  that  followed, 
George  Howland,  jun.,  wrote  out  an  account  of  his  trav- 
els, as  in  the  former  instance  of  his  tour  through  Great 
Britain.  The  later  journal  was  more  carefully  kept  than 
the  earlier  one  ;  the  greater  part  of  it  is  entirely  free  from 
hurried  notes,  and  it  is  written  throughout  in  ink.  Some 
of  the  descriptions  of  European  travel  of  fifty  years  ago 
are  very  interesting,  as  a  few  extracts  will  serve  to  show  : 

1st  mo.  7.  At  9.30  a.  m.,  took  our  seats  in  the  coupe  of  a 
French  diligence,  which  lo\  the  way  is  a  queer  sort  of  thing, 
having  three  separate  apartments.  The  first  is  considered  the 
best  and  is  called  the  coupe  ;  it  has  but  three  seats,  is  all  glass 
in  front,  and  has  a  large  window  on  each  side,  of  course  com- 
manding a  good  view  of  the  country  if  the  fog  is  not  so  dense 
as  to  prevent  it,  as  was  the  case  this  day.  It  is  well  finished 
inside  and  is  altogether  a  very  comfortable  affair,  being  at  this 
season  of  the  year  warmed  by  a  lamp  fitted  under  the  bottom, 
but  which  answers  the  purpose  remarkably  well.  The  middle 
part  is  called  the  interieure  and  contains  six  seats  with  only  side 
windows,  like  a  common  carriage,  and  no  heat.  Behind  is  what 
is  called  the  rotonde,  with  sideway  seats  for  six  or  eight ;  and 
then  on  the  top  is  still  another  place  which  will  contain  one  or 
two  besides  the  conducteur.  The  diligence  is  drawn  by  five 
horses,  two  on  the  pole,  and  three  ahead,  side  by  side.  *  *  * 
Before  leaving  Havre,  we  supplied  ourselves  with  provisions  for 
the  road,  consisting  of  a  boiled  chicken,  a  veal  pie,  and  seme 
bread,  which  we  ate  on  the  road.  At  about  5.15  p.  m.  we  ar- 
rived at  Rouen,  a  distance  of  about  seventy  miles,  where  after 
waiting  about  half  an  hour  (it  being  dark  of  course)  we  set  off 
for  the  railroad.  On  arriving,  the  diligence  was  lifted  off  its 
wheels,  passengers,  baggage,  and  all,  and  set  upon  a  platform 
fitted  for  that  purpose.  In  that  style  we  went  to  Paris,  reach- 


14 


ing  there  about  10.15  p.  m.  After  having  our  baggage  exam- 
ined by  a  custom-house  officer,  we  took  a  porter  for  the  Hotel 
des  Princes. 

A  few  days  were  spent  in  looking  about  Paris,  and  then 
the  travellers  departed  by  way  of  Chalons  for  Lyons. 
Mr.  Rowland  found  the  latter  "  the  dirtiest  and  most  in- 
convenient city"  he  ever  saw.  Naturally  but  a  brief  stay 
was  made  here,  and  on  the  19th  the  party  took  passage 
on  a  little  steamer  for  Avignon.  A  day  in  this  ancient 
city  of  the  popes,  and  the  journey  was  continued  to 
Nismes.  Barely  a  glance  by  the  way  was  given  Taras- 
con,  which  had  not  yet  become  the  home  of  the  valorous 
Tartarin.  Of  Nismes  Mr.  Howland  writes  : 

This  is  I  think  without  exception  the  finest  city  I  have  yet 
seen  in  France,  the  streets,  particularly  in  the  new  part,  being 
wide  and  straight. 

Apparently  the  narrow,  crooked  streets  of  Avignon  and 
of  other  old  French  towns  found  little  favor  in  the  eyes 
of  one  who  loved  above  all  things  regularity  and  order, 
and  who  carried  a  remembrance  of  the  unbroken  uniform- 
ity of  our  New  Bedford  highways. 

After  spending  two  days  in  Marseilles,  Mr.  Howland 
and  his  companions  took  a  steamer  for  Civita  Vecchia, 
where  they  arrived  February  3,  after  a  stormy  passage. 
On  the  way,  the  steamer  stopped  a  day  at  Genoa,  and 
here  the  travellers  had  their  first  glimpse  of  an  Italian 
city.  At  Civita  Vecchia  seats  in  the  diligence  were  taken 
at  once  for  Rome.  On  the  way  thither,  the  conveyance 
was  overturned  in  ascending  a  hill,  and  it  was  found 


15 


necessary  to  send  the  postillion  on  to  Rome  to  procure 
carriages.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Rowland  and  his  two 
fellow-travellers  had  the  pleasure  of  spending  four  hours 
in  a  wrecked  coach,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  with- 
out lights. 

They  finally  reached  the  city  early  in  the  morning  of 
February  5,  which  was  the  last  day  of  the  carnival.  Mr. 
Rowland  describes  the  scene  as  follows  : 

We  walked  up  and  down  the  Via  del  Corso,  where  for  about 
four  hours  we  were  exceedingly  amused  in  witnessing  the  sports, 
and  in  which  we  joined  to  some  little  extent.  The  first  that  we 
discovered,  except  the  fitting  up  of  the  windows  along  the  streets 
as  balconies  to  stand  in,  was  now  and  then  a  man  or  woman 
hopping  or  running  along  dressed  in  the  most  fantastic  manner 
and  masked.  Then  they  began  to  come  in  groups ;  then  the 
carriages  began  to  move,  filled  with  people,  some  masked  and 
dressed  in  all  manner  of  ways,  and  others  in  citizen's  dress. 
All  had  small  bunches  of  wild  flowers  tied  together  and  mixed 
with  green,  which  they  exchanged  with  those  who  by  this  time 
had  taken  their  places  in  the  windows.  About  2  p.  m.,  the 
street  was  literally  filled  with  horses,  carriages,  and  people,  and 
such  a  scene  I  never  saw  before.  Every  one  from  the  least  to 
the  greatest  seemed  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  it,  and  all  went 
on  with  the  greatest  harmony.  The  boys  and  men  employed 
themselves  with  picking  up  the  bunches  which  dropped  upon  the 
street,  which  by  the  way  were  the  greater  part,  and  selling  them. 
I  have  no  doubt  some  were  sold  many  times  over.  Some  had 
their  pockets,  or  baskets  upon  their  arms,  filled  with  some  small 
sugar  plums  made  for  the  occasion,  with  a  good  share  of  flour 
scattered  over  them,  which  they  threw  indiscriminately  among 
the  multitude,  almost  blinding  some,  and  covering  the  hats  and 
backs  of  others.  Some  threw  lemons  and  oranges ;  some  had 
bladders,  blown  up  and  tied  with  a  short  string  to  a  stick,  with 
which  they  would  run  through  the  crowd  and  strike  any  one 
they  chose,  which  made  a  great  noise  without  inflicting  pain. 


16 


Some  had  old  tin  pails  upon  which  they  were  beating  ;  some, 
great  loaves  of  bread  in  the  form  of  quizzing  glasses  ;  and  all 
doing  their  very  best  to  amuse  and  to  be  amused.  This  was 
kept  up  until  nearly  five,  when  the  military  cleared  the  middle  of 
the  street,  with  great  difficulty ;  and  at  five  precisely,  seven  or 
eight  horses  were  let  loose  from  the  top  of  the  Corso  (without 
riders)  and  ran  down  through  that  otherwise  crowded  street  as 
hard  as  they  could.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  I  have  not  heard 
of  the  slightest  accident. 

At  about  half-past  five,  they  commenced  another  and  the  final 
portion  of  the  amusements  of  the  day  by  having  in  their  hands, 
or  on  sticks,  small  wax  candles,  of  which  there  must  have  been 
thousands,  the  sport  consisting  in  blowing  out  those  within 
reach ;  and  when  they  succeeded  in  extinguishing  all  within  a 
carriage  or  window,  they  would  set  up  a  tremendous  shout  of 
Smoccola,  Smoccola,  the  which  if  they  did  not  succeed  would  be 
shouted  by  those  in  the  carriages  or  windows.  This  was  kept 
up  for  two  or  three  hours.  I  could  not  help  entering  into  this 
also  for  half  an  hour  or  so  with  as  much  zeal  as  many  of  them. 
In  fact  I  exchanged  flowers  and  put  out  lights  with  people  whom 
of  course  I  never  saw  before  and  probably  never  shall  see  again. 


Two  weeks  were  devoted  to  Rome ;  and  then,  after  a 
few  days  spent  in  Naples  and  Pompeii,  Mr.  Rowland  and 
his  fellow-travellers  turned  their  faces  north  toward  Flor- 
ence. Beyond  a  somewhat  dangerous  journey  across  the 
Apennines  in  a  snow-storm,  nothing  occurred  during  the 
two  remaining  months  spent  on  the  continent  which  re- 
quires particular  mention.  They  travelled  in  northern 
Italy,  Switzerland,  Germany,  Belgium,  and  Holland,  lin- 
gering nowhere  for  more  than  a  few  days.  That  they 
made  excellent  use  of  their  time,  the  list  of  places  visited, 
as  given  by  Mr.  Rowland  in  his  journal,  is  ample  evi- 
dence. 


17 


The  continental  tour  ended  with  a  pleasant  week  in 
Paris,  and  then  the  travellers  departed  for  London,  where 
they  arrived  April  28.  The  following  extracts  are  taken 
from  a  letter  written  by  George  Rowland,  jun.,  to  his 
father,  the  next  day.  The  first  relates  to  a  new  sheathing 
for  vessels  which  Mr.  Rowland  purchased  at  that  time  as 
an  experiment,  but  which,  not  proving  entirely  satisfac- 
tory, was  never  used  extensively  in  New  Bedford  : 

While  in  Havre  last  week,  I  saw  a  kind  of  sheathing  copper, 
called  copper  bronze,  which  will  last  from  ten  to  twelve  years 
in  constant  wear  and  is  in  general  use  there.  I  saw  a  state- 
ment from  the  owner  of  one  ship  which  had  been  coppered  with 
it  eleven  years  and  had  gone  again  to  India  with  a  slight  repair 
of  only  twenty  sheets ;  and  of  several  others  that  had  used  it 
for  ten  or  more  years  and  had  found  it  necessary  to  take  it  off 
to  caulk  the  ship's  bottom,  before  it  was  worn  out.  I  was  so 
well  satisfied  with  the  appearance  of  the  article  and  with  what  I 
learned  respecting  it,  that  I  ordered  him  (J.  Winslow)  to  ship 
for  our  account  2200  sheets,  enough  for  two  ships.  The  actual 
cost  is  about  the  same  as  copper. 

Our  friend  L.  M.  Hoag  is  spoken  of  by  all  whom  I  have  heard 
speak  of  him  as  having  given  very  general  satisfaction  in  this 
country.  He,  with  the  other  American  Friends,  is  now  attend- 
ing the  Dublin  yearly  meeting,  as  also  H.  C.  Backhouse  and 
many  other  English  Friends.  We  are  now  comfortably  settled 
in  a  private  boarding-house,  kept  by  a  Friend  by  the  name  of 
John  Hughes,  where  we  shall  probably  spend  the  most  if  not  all 
the  time  before,  and  of  course  during,  yearly  meeting  ;  immedi- 
ately after  which  I  shall  be  under  the  necessity  of  leaving  for 
Liverpool  to  embark  for  home. 

The  brevity  of  the  notes  in  Mr.  Rowland's  journal  dur- 
ing the  month  that  was  spent  in  London  would  alone  suf- 
fice to  show  how  fully  his  time  was  occupied.  The  Lon- 


18 


don  yearly  meeting  of  Friends,  which  was  the  chief  object 
of  his  visit  at  this  time,  did  not  begin  until  the  twenty- 
first  of  May.  The  intervening  days  were  employed  in 
looking  about  the  city  and  in  meeting  certain  prominent 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  to  whom  Mr.  How- 
land  and  his  companions  bore  letters  of  introduction. 
They  visited,  to  cite  a  few  from  among  many  places  of 
interest,  Hampton  Court,  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
Madame  Tussaud's  waxwork  exhibition.  The  American 
minister,  Edward  Everett,  gave  them  tickets  to  enter  the 
House  of  Lords,  where  they  saw  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
an  old  man  who  was  then  nearing  the  end  of  his  long 
leadership  in  that  political  body.  They  likewise  wit- 
nessed the  bringing  in  of  the  immense  petitions  against 
Sir  Robert  Peel's  project  for  the  extension  of  the  college 
of  Maynooth.  This  college  had  been  devoted,  since  1795, 
to  the  education  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood,  and 
the  proposed  grants  met  with  violent  though  unavailing 
opposition  from  both  Churchmen  and  Dissenters.  With 
the  excitement  over  the  Maynooth  grants  and  the  agita- 
tion caused  by  the  Anti-Corn-Law  League,  English  polit- 
ical feeling  at  this  time  ran  very  high. 

At  the  sessions  of  the  yearly  meeting,  George  How- 
laud,  jun.,  met  many  of  the  well-known  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends  in  England,  and  by  them  he  was  cor- 
dially welcomed  and  hospitably  entertained.  He  dined 
with  the  Gurneys  (Joseph  John  and  Samuel)  and  with 
Josiah  Forster.  Other  names  which  occur  in  the  pages 
of  his  journal  at  this  time  are  those  of  John  Bright,  Eliz- 
abeth Fry,  William  Forster,  and  Isaac  Braithwaite,  all  of 


19 


whom,  as  well  as  many  others,  he  met  during  these  last 
days  that  he  spent  in  London.  The  following  extract  re- 
lating to  the  yearly  meeting  will  have  a  particular  interest 
for  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  It  is  taken  from 
a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Rowland  from  New  Bedford,  im- 
mediately after  his  return  from  England,  and  addressed 
to  his  father,  who  was  then  in  Newport : 

The  yearly  meeting  closed  on  seventh  day,  the  31st  of  5th 
mo.,  after  a  session  of  eleven  days.  I  attended  every  sitting, 
and  I  may  say  that  some  of  them  were  exceedingly  interesting, 
more  particularly  on  sixth  and  seventh  days,  the  30th  and  31st. 
The  committee  on  epistles  reported  an  address  to  the  seceders 
from  Indiana  yearly  meeting  and  proposed  to  the  meeting  to 
send  a  deputation  of  four  Friends  to  attend  the  ensuing  yearly 
meeting  of  Indiana  and  take  charge  of  the  address  and  take 
such  measures  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  between  the  se- 
ceders and  the  yearly  meeting  as  may  appear  best ;  which  was 
very  fully  and  feelingly  united  in.  The  subject,  after  some 
discussion,  was  referred  back  to  the  committee  to  report  the 
names  of  the  Friends  to  compose  the  delegation ;  previous  to 
which,  however,  J.  J.  Gurney  observed  that  there  appeared  to 
be  an  exercise  resting  on  the  minds  of  some  of  the  members  of 
the  committee,  which  he  felt  sure  would  result  in  their  being 
constrained  to  undertake  the  task.  (I  do  not  pretend  to  give 
his  language,  but  the  import  of  it.)  He  was  of  the  opinion  that 
our  dear  friend,  Edward  Pease,  who  had  indeed  been  to  the 
committee  as  a  father  in  Israel,  could  give  their  names  to  the 
meeting.  However,  the  subject  was  disposed  of  as  before 
stated.  The  same  committee  were  requested  to  prepare  an 
epistle  to  Indiana  yearly  meeting,  and  in  the  afternoon,  after 
some  other  business  was  disposed  of,  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee was  read.  On  the  announcement  of  the  names  of  William 
Forster,  George  Stacey,  Josiah  Forster,  and  John  Allen,  there 
was  such  a  feeling  brought  over  the  meeting  as  I  never  before 
witnessed  on  any  occasion.  They  also  recommended  the  ap- 


20 


poiutment  of  a  Friend  from  Ireland,  Joseph  Bewley,  to  accom- 
pany them,  if  about  the  time  of  their  departure  he  should  feel 
clear  to  do  so,  which  was  also  approved.  The  meeting  ad- 
journed at  ten  minutes  to  9  p.  m.,  under  the  same  feeling  which 
had  pervaded  it  from  the  time  the  subject  was  first  opened.  I 
have  thus  attempted  to  give  you  a  slight  sketch  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  that  day,  however  imperfect  it  may  be,  and  I  am  well 
aware  it  is  so. 

Immediately  after  the  London  yearly  meeting,  Mr. 
Rowland  and  Mr.  Parsons  returned  to  America,  leaving 
Robert  Rowland  in  England.  George  Rowland,  jun., 
arrived  in  Boston,  June  19,  1845,  after  a  passage  from 
Liverpool  of  about  fifteen  days. 


Ill 

In  1849,  George  Howland,  jun.,  was  elected  one  of  the 
directors  of  the  New  Bedford  and  Taunton  railroad. 
Both  he  and  his  father  were  among  the  original  stock- 
holders of  this  corporation,  and  the  latter  had  already 
served  as  a  director.  Mr.  Howland  continued  to  hold  the 
directorship,  to  which  he  was  now  chosen,  until  1873. 
In  that  year  the  road  was  sold  to  a  new  organization, 
called  the  New  Bedford  railroad,  which  in  turn  leased  the 
property  to  the  Boston,  Clinton,  and  Fitchburg  corpora- 
tion. 

George  Howland,  senior,  died  in  New  Bedford,  May 
21,  1852.  After  his  death,  the  whaling  business  which 
he  had  established  was  continued  by  George  Howland, 
jun.,  and  his  brother  Matthew,  although  no  partnership 
was  ever  formed  between  them.  Among  the  ships  for 
which  they  were  agents  were  the  Java,  George  Howland, 
George  and  Susan,  and  Rousseau.  In  the  great  disaster 
in  the  Arctic  ocean  in  1871,  when  thirty-three  whalers 
were  either  wrecked  or  abandoned,  George  and  Matthew 
Howland  lost  three  vessels,  the  Concordia,  the  George 
Howland,  and  the  Thomas  Dickason,  of  which  the  esti- 
mated value  at  the  time  of  sailing  was  about  $173,000. 
As  the  Messrs.  Howland  were  uninsured,  they  were  among 


22 


those  to  whom  the  misfortune  brought  the  largest  pecuni- 
ary loss.  With  the  decline  of  the  whale  fishery,  the 
brothers  gradually  withdrew  their  ships  from  active  ser- 
vice, until  the  business  practically  ceased  about  1882. 

In  1852,  George  Rowland,  jun.,  again  accepted  public 
office  and  became  for  the  third  time  a  member  of  the 
General  Court.  The  following  year,  when  John  H.  Clif- 
ford was  governor,  Mr.  Howland  served  in  the  state  Sen- 
ate from  the  Bristol  district.  In  1855,  he  consented  to 
become  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  mayor  of  New  Bed- 
ford, and  was  chosen,  March  5,  for  the  year  beginning  in 
the  following  April.  Mr.  Howland  received  1836  votes, 
while  715  were  cast  for  Rodney  French,  who  was  a  candi- 
date for  re-election.  Mr.  Rowland's  inaugural  address  to 
the  City  Council  began  as  follows  : 

When,  eight  years  ago,  1  took  leave  of  municipal  affairs  with 
which  I  had  then  been  several  years  connected,  I  hoped  to  be 
permitted  to  remain  a.  private  citizen  for  the  residue  of  my  life. 
But  through  the  partiality  of  my  fellow  citizens,  extended  to 
me  with  a  very  great  degree  of  unanimity,  I  have  been  again 
called  to  the  field  of  labor  ;  and  although  the  duty  imposed  upon 
me  is  of  a  character  somewhat  different  from  any  I  have  before 
assumed,  yet  I  hope  to  be  enabled  so  to  conduct  the  public 
affairs,  as  at  least  to  receive  the  approval  of  my  own  con- 
science, looking  to  that,  rather  than  to  the  applause  of  men,  for 
my  reward. 

Far  from  having  ended,  Mr.  Rowland's  public  life,  or 
the  more  important  part  of  it,  was  but  just  beginning. 
In  185G,  he  was  again  elected  mayor  over  his  former  an- 
tagonist, Mr.  French,  after  an  exciting  and  closely  con- 
tested campaign.  During  his  second  term  of  office,  Mr. 


Rowland  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  building  at  present 
occupied  by  the  Free  Public  Library.  The  erection  of 
this  building  had  been  strongly  recommended  by  Mr. 
Rowland  in  his  first  inaugural  address,  and  it  was  with 
great  pleasure  that  he  saw  definite  steps  taken  in  the  mat- 
ter before  he  gave  up  his  guidance  of  municipal  affairs. 
A  further  account  of  Mr.  Rowland's  relations  with  the 
Free  Public  Library  will  be  found  in  subsequent  pages 
devoted  to  his  connection  with  educational  institutions. 

The  New  Bedford  Five  Cents  Savings  Bank  was  organ- 
ized May  5,  1855,  and  George  Rowland,  jun.,  was  chosen 
for  its  first  president.  He  held  this  office,  together  with 
a  membership  in  the  board  of  investment,  from  that  time 
until  his  death.  During  this  same  year  Mr.  Rowland  was 
appointed  to  another  office  which  he  continued  to  hold  for 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  when  on  June  27,  1855,  Gov- 
ernor Gardner  selected  him  for  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Taunton  Lunatic  Hospital.  In  the  work  of  this  institu- 
tion Mr.  Rowland  took  a  great  interest ;  and  his  practical 
suggestions  for  increasing  its  efficiency  were  highly  val- 
ued by  his  associates  throughout  his  long  connection  with 
the  board  of  trustees. 

After  serving  as  a  member  of  Governor  Gardner's 
council  in  1857,  George  Rowland,  jun.,  returned  to  a 
municipal  office  and  became,  in  1858,  a  member  of  the 
Common  Council  and  president  of  that  body.  The  win- 
ters of  1858-9  and  1859-60  Mr.  Rowland  spent  in 
Florida  with  his  wife  and  son.  These  journeys  were 
undertaken  on  account  of  the  delicate  health  of  his  son, 
George  Henry  Rowland.  An  extract  from  a  letter  writ- 


24 


ten  by  Mr.  Rowland  to  his  brother  Matthew,  dated  at 
Jacksonville  in  December,  1858,  indicates  that  the  com- 
fort of  northern  tourists  in  Florida  did  not  then  receive 
the  same  careful  attention  that  it  now  does : 

This  city  contains  from  2000  to  2500  inhabitants  and  is  the 
largest  town  in  East  Florida.  How  we  shall  get  along  and  fill 
up  our  time,  we  do  not  allow  ourselves  to  dwell  upon.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  so  far  we  have  made  out  very  well.  Having  de- 
termined to  make  the  best  of  everything,  we  do  not  permit  little 
things  to  disconcert  us.  There  are  many  things  we  would  have 
different ;  but  as  we  are  satisfied  that  for  the  most  part  we  have 
things  about  as  good  as  they  can  procure,  we  say  but  little  about 
it.  If  we  have  not  already  had  our  peck  of  dirt,  we  are  in  a 
fair  way  to  get  our  share  of  it  this  winter. 

In  1861,  George  Rowland,  jun.,  was  again  a  member 
of  the  Common  Council  of  New  Bedford  and  was  chosen 
president  as  before.  He  was  elected  to  fill  the  same  posi- 
tion for  the  following  year.  The  mayor  of  the  city,  Isaac 
C.  Taber,  died  September  29,  1862.  October  7,  the  City 
Council  in  convention  chose  George  Rowland,  jun.,  to  fill 
out  the  unexpired  term.  He  was  re-elected  for  1863 
without  opposition,  the  first  time  that  there  was  no  con- 
test over  the  office  since  New  Bedford  had  become  a  city. 
Mr.  Rowland's  administration  of  city  affairs  during  the 
trying  period  of  the  civil  war  received  warm  commenda- 
tion from  his  fellow-citizens,  and  they  continued  to  re- 
elect  him  mayor  during  the  years  1864  and  1865.  The 
Societ}'  of  Friends,  of  which  George  Rowland,  jun.,  was 
a  life-long  member,  could  not  consistently  with  their  doc- 
trines give  approval  to  the  war.  But  Mr.  Rowland  felt 


25 


that  since  the  Union  could  not  endure  without  a  bitter 
struggle,  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  was  plainly  a 
necessity.  His  conception  of  the  duty  of  a  patriotic  citi- 
zen once  formed,  he  threw  all  his  energy  and  influence  as 
the  chief  executive  of  the  city  into  the  encouragement  of 
recruiting  and  into  attention  to  the  welfare  of  the  depart- 
ing troops. 

In  the  summer  of  1863,  when  draft  riots  occurred  in 
New  York  and  in  other  cities  of  the  North,  it  was  feared 
that  opposition  to  the  call  for  troops  might  arise  in  New 
Bedford.  These  were  anxious  days  for  Mr.  Rowland,  in 
whose  hands  lay  the  responsibility  for  the  preservation  of 
order  and  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law.  It  was  indeed 
a  difficult  position  for  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
to  occupy,  where  it  might  be  necessary  at  any  moment  to 
give  orders  that  would  cause  bloodshed.  But  George 
Howland's  conception  of  his  duty  was  clear,  as  always, 
and  his  course  of  action  was  determined  without  a  thought 
of  evading  any  of  the  obligations  of  the  office  he  had  ac- 
cepted. The  City  Hall  was  garrisoned,  and  mounted 
patrols  guarded  at  night  the  roads  leading  to  New  Bed- 
ford, with  the  object  of  intercepting  men  who  were  seek- 
ing to  instigate  riots  wherever  an  opportunity  might  be 
given.  In  the  course  of  a  conversation  which  he  held 
at  this  time  with  his  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Rachel  Rowland, 
Mr.  How  land  was  asked  what  he  intended  to  do  in  case 
the  dreaded  insurrection  should  occur.  He  quietly  re- 
sponded, "  There  will  be  no  blank  cartridges  fired." 

The  time  of  danger  passed  by,  however,  and  no  dis- 
turbances over  the  draft  took  place  in  New  Bedford.  But 


26 


the  precautions  adopted  under  Mayor  Rowland's  leader- 
ship were  wisely  taken  ;  and  the  knowledge  that  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities  were  ready  to  make  a  determined  stand 
in  defence  of  law  and  order  may  have  contributed  in  no 
small  degree  to  avert  a  very  considerable  outbreak. 

September  14,  1864,  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Dartmouth  was  cele- 
brated in  New  Bedford  by  the  people  of  the  towns  formed 
out  of  the  old  township.  George  Howland,  jun.,  mayor 
of  New  Bedford,  acted  as  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
arrangements  and  delivered  an  address  of  welcome  at  the 
exercises  which  were  held  in  the  First  Christian  church, 
on  Purchase  street.  An  extract  from  this  address  may  be 
of  interest  as  showing  how  much  of  the  growth  of  New 
Bedford  had  taken  place  within  Mr.  Rowland's  recollec- 
tion : 

Eveu  I,  at  nry  comparatively  early  period  of  life,  recollect 
when  New  Bedford  contained  only  about  three  thousand  inhab- 
itants ;  the  details  of  a  painting,*  made  some  twenty-five  years 
since  by  one  of  our  native  artists,  representing  the  "Old  Four 
Corners,"  are  all  familiar  to  me ;  many  a  time  have  I  accom- 
panied my  respected  father  to  the  shed  market  there  represented  ; 
the  old  store  on  one  of  the  corners,  then  and  now  known  as  the 


*Thc  painting  referred  to  is  by  William  A.  Wall,  and  is  entitled,  "  New  Bedford, 
fifty  years  ago."  It  represents,  at  about  the  year  1810,  what  is  now  the  corner  of 
Union  and  Water  streets,  and  gives  a  view  of  Union  street  as  far  west  as  the  Man- 
sion house.  The  original  picture  was  painted  for  the  late  Albert  C.  Barney.  It 
was  subsequently,  and  for  a  long  time,  the  property  of  Hon.  Joseph  Grinnull- 
After  his  death,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  his  grand-nephew,  Mr.  Grinncll 
Willis,  of  New  York,  who  is  the  present  owner.  A  replica  of  this  painting  was 
made  for  the  late  William  W.  Swain,  of  New  Bedford,  whose  widow  bequeathed 
it  to  Mr.  Daniel  Ricketson,  in  whose  hands  it  now  remains.  Another  replica,  intu 
which  the  artist  introduced  three  or  four  new  figures,  belongs  to  Mrs.  Edward  C. 
Jones,  of  New  Bedford.  From  this  last-mentioned  painting,  the  many  lithographs 
of  the  picture  were  made. 


"  Four  Corners,"  with  the  upper  half  of  the  window  shutter 
propped  up  on  a  stick,  and  nearly  all  the  other  objects  handed 
down  to  us  of  the  present  day  by  this  picture,  I  recollect  as 
though  they  were  still  extant,  not  forgetting  some  of  the  more 
prominent  persons  so  faithfully  represented,  nor  yet  the  little 
old  No.  1  fire  engine,  nor  the  old  chaise  with  the  small  round 
seat  in  front,  upon  which  sat  old  "  Tony,"  when  he  drove  his 
excellent  master,  the  venerable  William  Rotch,  sen.,  through 
the  streets.  I  have  heard  my  maternal  grandmother  relate  that 
when  the  house  which  stood  upon  the  northwest  corner  of  Union 
and  First  streets,  on  a  portion  of  the  site  now  occupied  by  Thorn- 
ton block,  was  raised,  she  sat  at  the  window  of  her  house  on 
Water  street,  between  School  and  Walnut  streets,  and,  looking 
through  the  forest,  witnessed  the  operation.  In  that  house, 
many  years  after  I  was  born,  I  have  been  told  by  an  uncle  of 
mine,  that  when  he  was  a  boy  and  went  with  other  boys  after 
berries,  if  they  thought  to  go  so  far  from  home  as  where  I  now 
live,  on  Sixth  street,  they  considered  it  necessary  to  take  their 
dinners  with  them.  These,  and  many  other  incidents  that 
might  be  related,  show  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  a 
few  vears. 


During  the  years  that  elapsed  between  the  time  of  the 
delivery  of  this  address  and  his  death,  Mr.  Rowland  wit- 
nessed still  further  changes  in  his  native  city,  which, 
though  perhaps  not  so  marked,  were  hardly  less  in  mag- 
nitude than  those  which  he  has  here  indicated. 

In  July,  1865,  Sylvia  Ann  Rowland  of  New  Bedford 
died  and  left  an  estate  valued  at  over  two  millions  of  dol- 
lars. She  bequeathed  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  to 
the  city  of  New  Bedford,  one  hundred  thousand  to  aid  in 
the  introduction  of  water  into  the  city,  and  the  income  of 
the  other  one  hundred  thousand  to  be  expended  "  for  the 
promotion  and  support  within  the  city  of  liberal  educa- 


28 


tion,  and  for  the  enlargement  from  time  to  time  of  our 
Free  Public  Library."  Trust  funds  amounting  to  about 
$1,700,000  were  created  by  the  will,  and  these  were  left 
in  the  hands  of  three  trustees,  of  whom  George  Howland, 
jun.,  was  one.  Mr.  Howland  received  a  personal  bequest 
of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  litigation  which  resulted 
from  this  will  developed  into  a  famous  case,  in  which 
some  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  New  England  were  engaged. 
A  great  mass  of  evidence  was  taken,  which  included  the 
testimony  of  many  scientific  experts.  The  result  in  brief 
was  that  after  an  adverse  judgment  from  the  United  States 
circuit  court,  the  case  of  the  complainant  (Mrs.  Hetty  H. 
Green,  the  niece  of  Sylvia  Ann  Howland  and  her  heir-at- 
law)  was  withdrawn.  A  compromise  was  effected,  and 
the  will  remained  valid.* 

Another  estate  of  which  Mr.  Howland  was  a  trustee  for 
many  years  was  that  of  John  West,  a  former  resident  of 
what  is  now  Fairhaven,  Massachusetts.  Mr.  West  died 
about  one  hundred  years  ago  and  left  the  income  of  his 
property  to  be  divided  among  the  poor  and  needy  of  New 
Bedford,  with  a  request  that  the  nearest  monthly  meeting 
of  Friends  should  appoint  the  trustees  of  the  estate  when- 
ever successors  to  those  named  in  his  will  might  be  re- 

O 

quired.  Trustees  were  accordingly  appointed  by  the 
New  Bedford  monthly  meeting ;  and  it  was  by  this  means 
that  in  the  course  of  time  George  Howland,  jun.,  came  to 
occupy  the  position.  Since  the  death  of  John  West,  the 


*  A  full  account  of  the  Howland  will  case  may  be  found  In  the  documents  bear- 
Ing  on  It  which  are  in  the  New  Bedford  Free  Public  Library.  A  summary  of  the 
case  was  given  in  the  American  Law  Review  for  July,  1870.  Vol.  4,  p.  625. 


29 


two  towns  of  Fairhaven  and  Acushnet  have  been  formed 
from  territory  which  was  at  that  time  included  within  the 
limits  of  New  Bedford ;  and  the  income  of  the  fund  is 
now  divided  among  the  poor  of  the  three  places.  During 
Mr.  Howland's  trusteeship,  the  original  property  was 
sold,  by  permission  of  the  probate  court,  and  the  proceeds 
were  re-invested  in  bank  stock.  In  this  way  the  income 
was  largely  increased. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  Bedford  Port  Soci- 
ety, held  January  26,  1866,  George  Rowland,  jun.,  was 
chosen  president.  This  office  he  held  until  January  29, 
1886,  when  he  declined  another  re-election.  At  the  anni- 
versary meeting  of  the  society,  March  8,  1868,  Mr.  How- 
land  delivered  an  historical  address,  which  reviewed  the 
work  of  the  organization  to  that  time.  Referring,  in  this 
address,  to  the  claim  which  sailors  have  upon  a  city  to 
which  they  have  brought  so  much  prosperity,  Mr.  How- 
land  said  : 

I  would  respectfully  ask  of  you,  my  friends,  if  this  claim 
upon  us  has  been  fully  recognized  and  requited  ?  Have  we  done 
for  the  sailor  all  that  is  demanded  at  our  hands?  Have  we 
sufficiently  considered  the  necessity  of  providing  for  him  more 
and  greater  opportunities  while  on  shore  for  his  moral  and  re- 
ligious improvement?  Have  all  the  better  impulses  of  our  na- 
tures been  stirred  and  our  hearts  been  warmed  on  his  account  ? 
If  not,  my  friends,  let  us  no  longer  permit  this  institution  to 
struggle  on,  would  I  could  say  sustaining  itself,  or  being  sus- 
tained as  it  should  be,  but  just  living  from  year  to  year,  when 
it  should  of  right  have  such  an  income  as  would  enable  it  to  ex- 
tend its  usefulness  with  each  recurring  year.  Permit  me  in  this 
connection  to  suggest  to  you  the  propriety  of  taking  this  sub- 
ject under  your  careful,  and  may  I  not  say  prayerful  consider- 


ation,  and  decide  whether  it  is  not  only  your  duty  but  a  positive 
requisition  upon  you  to  contribute  a  portion  of  that  material 
substance  derived  from  the  labors  of  the  sailor,  to  aid  in  pro- 
moting the  objects  for  which  this  society  was  incorporated. 

June  6,  1870,  Mr.  Rowland  became  one  of  the  fellows 
of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers.  These  fel- 
lowships are  honorary  positions,  to  which  are  chosen 
properly  qualified  subscribers  to  the  so-called  "Fellow- 
ship" fund  of  the  society.  Mr.  Rowland,  with  his  natural 
bent  toward  matters  pertaining  to  engineering,  was  inter- 
ested in  the  objects  of  this  society  through  Mr.  W.  J. 
McAlpine,  who  was  the  consulting  engineer  at  the  time 
of  the  introduction  of  Acushnet  water  into  New  Bedford. 
The  preliminary  measures  in  this  undertaking  were 
adopted  during  the  last  years  in  which  Mr.  Rowland  was 
mayor  of  the  city. 


IV 

From  the  earliest  settlement  of  New  Bedford,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Society  of  Friends  has  been  a  potent  factor  in 
its  religious  and  social  life.  During  many  years  this  sect 
held  the  leading  position  in  the  town,  and  most  of  the 
well-known  citizens  were  among  its  adherents.  The  quiet 
Quaker  garb  was  commonly  seen  on  the  streets,  and  the 
growing  township  was  guided  by  the  customs  of  the  soci- 
ety. The  inevitable  changes,  however,  which  come  with 
fresh  generations  and  with  new  pursuits  have  nearly  ef- 
faced the  outward  characteristics  which  once  distinguished 
New  Bedford  from  other  New  England  towns ;  and  the 
Quaker  usages  have  lost  their  dominating  influence  with 
the  advent  of  a  population  with  different  traditions. 

George  Rowland,  jun.,  was  a  birthright  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  he  remained  throughout  his  life  a 
believer  in  its  doctrines.  The  son  of  a  wealthy  Quaker 
merchant  (who  was  himself  a  benefactor  of  the  society), 
and  acquainted  by  his  travels  abroad  with  the  prominent 
Friends  in  England,  it  was  natural  that  Mr.  How  land 
should  take  at  an  early  age  an  influential  place  among  the 
New  EnglancJ  Quakers.  He  served  for  man}r  years  as 
treasurer  of  the  New  England  yearly  meeting  of  Friends, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  had  long  been  one  of  its 


32 


correspondents.  Mr.  Rowland  took  a  deep  interest  in 
the  work  of  the  foreign  missions  of  the  society,  particu- 
larly in  Syria ;  and  to  all  educational  projects  he  gave 
valuable  and  willing  aid. 

To  his  active  participation  in  the  affairs  of  the  Society 
of  Friends  was  due  a  visit  which  Mr.  How  land  paid  to 
the  Osage  Indians  in  the  winter  of  1871-72.  In  1869, 
upon  the  election  of  General  Grant  to  the  presidency, 
delegations  of  Friends  from  the  yearly  meetings  in  the 
West  and  from  Philadelphia  urged  upon  him  the  immedi- 
ate necessity  of  adopting  a  more  just  and  humane  policy 
in  the  treatment  of  the  Indians.  General  Grant  made 
the  proposition  that  the  Society  of  Friends  should  take 
charge  of  the  Indians,  under  the  supervision  of  the  gov- 
ernment. The  proposition  as  a  whole  was  declined  ;  but 
it  was  agreed  that  the  society  should  assume  the  oversight 
of  those  belonging  to  the  northern  and  central  superin- 
tendencies,  which  then  comprised  about  16,000  Indians. 
Accordingly,  delegates  were  appointed  from  each  yearly 
meeting  to  form  an  "  Associated  Executive  Committee  of 
Friends  on  Indian  Affairs."  In  the  hands  of  this  commit- 
tee was  placed  the  nomination  of  Indian  agents,  school 
superintendents,  teachers,  farmers,  and  other  employees, 
who  were  then  appointed  and  paid  by  the  government. 

It  was  as  a  member  of  this  Associated  Executive  Com- 
mittee, and  in  its  behalf,  that  George  Rowland,  jun., 
visited  the  Osage  Indians,  in  the  Indian  Territory.  He 
was  accompanied  by  Thomas  Wistar,  of  Philadelphia. 
The  latter,  however,  on  account  of  ill  health,  was  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  journey  at  Lawrence,  Kansas.  The 


33 


object  of  the  visit  was  a  general  investigation  into  the 
condition  of  the  Osages,  who  were  a  peaceable  tribe,  in 
order  that  the  aid  to  be  given  them  should  be  rendered  in 
the  most  efficient  way.  The  encouragement  of  agricul- 
ture and  stock-raising  and  the  erection  of  suitable  build- 
ings to  meet  the  various  needs  of  the  agency  were  among 
the  subjects  which  required  consideration. 

During  his  journey,  while  between  St.  Louis  and  Kan- 
sas City,  Mr.  Howland  had  a  narrow  escape  from  death 
in  a  railroad  accident.  The  following  is  an  extract  from 
a  letter,  written  a  few  days  later,  to  his  brother,  Matthew 
Howland  : 

OFFICE  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIKS, 

CENTRAL  SUPERINTENDENCY, 
LAWRENCE,  KANSAS,  2d  mo.  6th,  1872. 
DEAR  BROTHER  : 

I  write  thee  from  this  far  off  land  this  beautiful  winter's 
morning  (good  sleighing,  thermometer  12  to  13  degrees  below 
zero) ,  feeling  a  great  burden  resting  upon  me,  owing  to  my  be- 
ing obliged  to  set  off  for  the  Indian  Territory  without  my  friend 
on  whom  I  have  so  much  relied,  Thomas  Wistar.  The  state  of 
his  health  is  such  that  the  doctor  (Wm.  Nicholson)  says  it  is 
not  proper  for  him  to  go.  It  is  now  arranged  for  us  (Isaac  T. 
Gibson,  the  agent  of  the  Osages,  and  myself)  to  set  off  to-mor- 
row about  eleven  o'clock,  hoping  to  meet  Mahlon  Stubbs,  agent 
of  the  Kaws,  at  a  point  on  the  road,  reaching  Coffeyville,  the 
end  of  the  railroad,  to-morrow  evening ;  thence  next  morning, 
by  some  kind  of  a  conveyance,  proceed  on  some  75  or  100  miles 
right  out  on  to  the  plains  to  find  some  of  the  Indians,  who  are 
out  on  a  hunt,  have  a  conference  with  them  there,  thence  return 
to  I.  Gibson's  agency  and  see  some  more  of  them,  and  try  to 
make  some  arrangements  with  and  for  them,  by  which  their 
condition  will  be  improved.  What  the  result  will  be  is  only 
known  to  Him  in  whose  hands  are  the  events  of  men. 


34 


Before  this  reaches  thee,  you  will  have  heard  of  the  very  se- 
rious accident  through  which  we  passed  between  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas  City.  Why  we  were  not  entirely  torn  to  pieces,  I  can- 
not yet  comprehend,  except  that  we  were  through  the  mercy  of 
the  Lord  kindly  cared  for  and  protected,  wonderfully  so.  I 
have  no  language  to  convey  to  anybody  the  condition  in  which 
we  found  ourselves  after  the  accident. 

There  seems  to  me  just  now  no  possibility  of  saying  when  I 
shall  return.  I  cannot  give  any  idea  of  the  length  of  time  that 
will  be  required  to  bring  about  the  object  of  our  mission. 

There  are  unfortunately  no  letters  existing  from  which 
might  be  gathered  some  details  of  Mr.  Rowland's  experi- 
ences during  his  residence  among  the  Osages.  He  re- 
mained with  them  several  weeks  and  gained,  from  per- 
sonal observation  of  their  customs,  a  fund  of  information 
which  proved  highly  serviceable  in  determining  what  was 
needed  to  bring  about  the  desired  improvement  in  their 
mode  of  living. 


A  sketch  of  the  life  of  George  Rowland,  jun.,*  would 
be  very  incomplete  which  made  no  mention  of  the  interest 
he  took  in  the  subject  of  education.  Beginning  with  the 
New  Bedford  school  committee,  he  held,  with  scarcely  a 
break,  some  position  connected  with  an  educational  insti- 
tution during  a  period  of  fifty  years.  He  was  first  cho- 
sen a  member  of  the  school  committee,  April  22,  1843,  to 
fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  the  late  Gen. 
James  D.  Thompson,  and  remained  a  member  until  1851. 
He  subsequently  held  this  office  during  the  years  1868 
and  1869  and  then  resigned.  The  interest  he  felt  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town,  and  in  all  measures 
which  might  increase  their  usefulness  and  influence,  was 
constant  and  sympathetic ;  and  it  was  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  the  years  of  his  service  as  a  member  of  the  school 
committee. 

In  1852,  Mr.  Howland  was  elected  by  the  corporation 
of  Brown  University  one  of  the  trustees  of  that  institu- 
tion. This  position  he  held  for  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  decease  he  was  the  oldest  trustee  in 


*  Mr.  Howland  wrote  hie  name  George  Howland,  junior,  throughout  his  life, 
notwithstanding  the  death  of  his  father. 


36 


point  of  service.  In  1852,  he  received  from  Brown  the 
honorary  degree  of  A.  M. 

George  Rowland,  jun.,  was  also  for  a  long  time  one  of 
the  managers  of  Haverford  College.  He  was  appointed 
to  succeed  his  father,  who  bestowed  upon  Haverford  the 
sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  and  was  the  largest  indi- 
vidual benefactor  in  its  early  history. 

In  the  will  of  George  Rowland,  senior,  who  died  in 
1852,  there  was  created  a  special  trust  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  for  the  establishment  and  support  of  a  school  for 
young  females.  The  location  was  left  to  the  decision  of 
the  trustees  of  the  fund,  although  the  testator  favored 
Cayuga  county  in  New  York.  The  school  was  finally  es- 
tablished at  Union  Springs  in  that  county  about  1862  and 
was  continued  in  operation  until  1878.  The  endowment 
of  the  school  was  insufficient  for  its  needs,  and  the  hope 
that  additional  bequests  would  be  attracted,  when  the  in- 
stitution was  successfully  started,  was  not  realized.  As  a 
result,  the  school  was  closed,  and  the  trustees  were  ab- 
solved from  their  trust  by  a  decree  of  the  supreme  court 
of  New  York.  George  Rowland,  jun.,  acted  as  president 
of  the  board  of  trustees  during  the  entire  period  of  the 
existence  of  the  school  and  made  every  effort  to  carry  his 
father's  wishes  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion.  But  as  the 
income  of  the  school  was  too  small  to  enable  it  to  reach 
the  period  when  it  should  become  self-supporting,  the 
whole  project  was  necessarily  abandoned. 

In  1847,  the  New  England  yearly  meeting  of  Friends 
chose  George  Rowland,  jun.,  a  member  of  the  committee 
in  charge  of  the  Friends'  School  in  Providence.  From 


37 


that  time  until  his  death,  with  the  exception  of  the  years 
1862,  1863,  and  1864,  Mr.  Rowland  was  one  of  the  most 
active  and  honored  members  of  this  committee.  He 
withdrew  temporarily,  during  the  years  just  mentioned, 
because  the  views  he  held  concerning  the  civil  war  were 
not  in  accord  with  the  commonly  accepted  beliefs  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  He  was  mayor  of  New  Bedford  at 
this  time ;  and  it  has  already  been  seen  how  valuable  a 
stimulus  in  the  preparations  for  war  which  devolved  on 
the  local  authorities  was  the  earnest  patriotism  which  he 
displayed  as  the  official  head  of  the  city.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  add  that  Mr.  Howland  lost  neither  influence 
nor  regard  among  the  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
by  his  fidelity  to  his  own  convictions. 

Mr.  Howland  was  clerk  of  the  managing  board  of  the 
Friends'  School,. which  in  this  case  means  that  he  was  both 
president  and  secretary,  from  June  22,  1875,  until  his 
health  failed  in  1891.  As  executive  of  the  committee, 
his  name  is  on  more  than  half  of  the  diplomas  which  have 
been  granted  by  the  school.  The  loss  which  this  institu- 
tion experienced  in  the  death  of  so  active  and  sympathetic 
an  adviser  was  keenly  felt.  To  quote  the  words  of  Mr. 
Augustine  Jones,  the  principal  of  the  school,  as  expressed 
in  a  letter  to  the  writer  of  these  pages,  "  We  deeply  real- 
ize that  this  institution  has  lost  in  Hon.  George  Howland, 
jun.,  one  of  its  most  competent  and  distinguished  patrons 
and  guardians.  And  that  out  of  all  of  our  lives  has  gone 
a  great  tight  which  will  not  return." 

With  the  New  Bedford  Free  Public  Library,  George 
Howland,  jun.,  had  an  intimate  connection  during  almost 


38 


the  entire  period  of  the  forty  years  of  its  existence.  He 
first  became  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  in  1855, 
by  virtue  of  his  election  to  the  office  of  mayor  of  the  city. 
From  that  time  until  his  death  in  1892,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  years  1857  and  1860,  his  membership  was 
constant.  While  serving  as  mayor,  and  again  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Common  Council,  he  was  an  ex-officio  member 
of  the  board  of  trustees ;  but  during  the  other  years,  and 
from  1866  to  1892  continuously,  he  was  chosen  by  the 
City  Council  for  the  regular  term  of  office.  It  was  as 
mayor  of  the  city  that  Mr.  Howland  laid  the  corner-stone 
of  the  present  library  building,  August  28,  1856.  His 
address  on  this  occasion  gave  a  succinct  history  of  the 
movement  toward  the  establishment  of  a  public  library  in 
New  Bedford,  and  closed  with  the  following  words : 

That  the  library  to  be  located  in  the  building,  the  corner- 
stone of  which  we  have  now  laid,  may  ever  continue  to  receive, 
as  it  has  thus  far  received,  the  fostering  care  of  the  city  govern- 
ment, and  that  the  rich  treasures  with  which  its  shelves  will  be 
stored  may  be  a  means  of  healthful  and  agreeable  recreation, 
not  only  to  us  of  the  present  day,  but  to  our  children  and  our 
children's  children  through  all  coming  generations,  is  the  fervent 
desire,  and  may  I  not  say  the  fervent  pra}rer,  of  those  who  have 
been  instrumental  in  promoting  this  great  public  work  ;  a  work 
which  will  redound  to  the  credit  of  our  city,  when  we  who  are 
now  participating  in  these  exercises  shall  have  gone  hence,  to 
be  seen  of  men  no  more  forever. 

The  interest  of  George  Howland,  jim.,  in  the  new 
library  was  not  confined  to  an  expression  of  good-will. 
In  1857,  at  the  expiration  of  his  second  year  as  mayor  of 


39 


New  Bedford,  he  sent  the  following  letter  to  the  City 
Council : 

NEW  BEDFORD,  37  6th  street, 

4  mo.  6,  1857. 
To  the  City  Council. 

GENTLEMEN  : 

Having  held  the  office  of  mayor  of  the  city  for  the  past  two 
years,  for  which  service  I  have  received  from  the  city  treasury 
the  sum  of  sixteen  hundred  dollars,  and  as,  when  I  accepted 
the  office,  I  did  it  against  my  own  inclinations  and  without  any 
expectations  of  being  compensated  for  the  time  and  labor  I 
might  devote  to  it,  and  with  a  view  to  manifest  in  some  degree 
the  interest  1  feel  in  our  "Free  Public  Library,"  I  now  make 
for  your  consideration  the  following  proposition  : 

I  will  return  to  the  city  the  amount  I  have  received  therefrom 
for  my  services  as  mayor,  on  condition  that  the  same  shall  be 
constituted  a  fund,  the  income  of  which  shall  forever  be  appro- 
priated to  the  purchase  of  books  for  the  said  "  Free  Public  Li- 
brary," to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  trustees  for 
the  time  being,  who  shall  in  their  annual  report  give  a  state- 
ment of  the  disbursements  of  said  income ;  the  class  of  books  I 
would  propose  to  be  obtained  from  the  above  source  to  be  of  a 
more  expensive  character,  embracing  some  of  the  higher  works 
of  art  and  science,  than  the  trustees  would  feel  themselves  jus- 
tified in  procuring  with  the  funds  annually  set  apart  and  placed 
at  their  disposal  by  the  city  government  for  the  enlargement  of 
the  library. 

Should  this  proposition  meet  with  your  approval,  I  will  hold 
myself  in  readiness  to  complete  the  arrangement  at  any  time 
that  will  suit  your  convenience. 

Respectfully  yours, 

GEORGE  ROWLAND,  JUN. 

The  City  Council  at  once  passed  resolutions  gratefully 
accepting  Mr.  Rowland's  generous  offer.  To  signify  its 
just  appreciation  of  this  the  first  endowment  which  the 


40 


library  had  received,  the  Council,  one  week  later,  appro- 
priated three  hundred  dollars  to  procure  a  portrait  of  Mr. 
Rowland.  The  portrait,  painted  by  Matthew  Wilson, 
now  hangs  in  the  delivery-room  of  the  library. 

There  is  another  incident  connected  with  Mr.  How- 
land's  gift,  which  is  deserving  of  mention.  The  money 
was  invested  in  three  bonds  of  the  Androscoggin  and 
Kennebec  railroad,  which  were  payable  in  stock.  This 
subsequently  proved  of  no  value.  Unwilling  that  the 
slender  resources  of  the  library  should  be  in  any  way 
diminished,  Mr.  Howland  deposited  in  the  city  treasury  a 
sum  of  money  equal  to  the  original  amount  of  his  gift, 
and  even  made  up  to  the  trustees  of  the  library  the 
amount  of  income  which  had  been  lost  in  the  meantime. 
The  interest  on  the  George  Howland,  jun.,  fund,  as  it  is 
called,  has  from  that  time  been  placed  semi-annually  by 
the  city  treasurer  to  the  credit  of  the  trustees  of  the  li- 
brary. In  regard  to  the  character  of  the  books  purchased 
from  this  fund,  the  wishes  of  the  donor  have  always  been 
strictly  observed ;  and  in  the  thirty-five  years  that  have 
passed  since  the  gift  was  first  made,  many  valuable  books 
have  accumulated  on  the  shelves  of  the  library,  forming  a 
lasting  memorial  of  Mr.  Howland's  liberality. 

In  1888,  George  Howland,  jun.,  presented  the  New 
Bedford  Free  Public  Library  with  nearly  all  of  his  private 
collection  of  books,  and  also  with  a  portrait  of  his  father, 
George  Howland,  senior.  This  was  the  last  of  many  gifts 
to  this  institution,  extending  throughout  his  long  term  of 
service  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees.  But  there 
is  no  record,  and  none  can  be  made,  of  the  benefit  which 


41 


the  library  received  from  Mr.  Rowland's  quick  discern- 
ment of  its  needs  and  from  his  unfailing  interest  in  its 
growth.  To  every  organization  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected, he  brought  wise  counsel  and  (what  is  perhaps 
more  rare)  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  best  way  of  doing 
things.  To  the  constant  support  of  a  man  of  this  charac- 
ter, continuing  as  it  did  through  so  many  years,  the  peo- 
ple of  New  Bedford  may  well  attribute  much  of  the  good 
which  their  library  has  accomplished. 


VI 

The  closing  years  of  Mr.  Rowland's  life  were,  for  the 
most  part,  passed  quietly  and  uneventfully  in  New  Bed- 
ford. As  the  whaling  industry  declined,  in  Avhich  he  had 
been  interested  for  so  long  a  period,  Mr.  Rowland,  like 
most  of  the  older  merchants,  gradually  withdrew  from  it. 
He  abandoned  the  business  altogether  about  1882.  There 
remained  to  occupy  his  time,  however,  his  duties  as  presi- 
dent of  the  New  Bedford  Five  Cents  Savings  Bank  ;  and 
to  the  needs  of  the  Taunton  Lunatic  Hospital,  in  which 
his  long  service  as  trustee  had  made  him  deeply  inter- 
ested, he  gave  much  attention  during  these  latter  years. 

In  1875  and  1876,  George  Rowland,  jun.,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  New  Bedford  water  board.  In  the  fall  of  the 
latter  year,  Mr.  Rowland  was  one  of  a  committee  of  fifty 
which  organized  an  independent  movement  in  municipal 
politics,  with  a  view  to  breaking  away  from  the  strong 
party  antagonisms  of  previous  years.  Alanson  Borden 
was  nominated  for  mayor,  and  Mr.  Rowland  accepted  a 
nomination  for  alderman.  Mr.  Borden  was  elected,  as 
were  also  four  of  the  aldermen  of  his  party,  of  whom  Mr. 
Rowland  was  one.  He  resigned  his  position  on  the  water 
board  and  served  his  term  as  alderman  during  the  year 


43 


1877,  which  was  the  last  of  his  participation  in  municipal 
politics. 

In  1888,  April  17,  the  death  of  Mrs.  Howland  brought 
to  a  close  an  exceptionally  long  and  happy  union.  From 
the  time,  sixty-one  years  before,  when  they  were  joined 
in  marriage  in  the  Friends'  meeting-house,  Mrs.  Howland 
had  retained  a  deep  and  unflagging  interest  in  the  many 
projects  which  her  husband  had  at  heart,  and  to  her 
advice  and  encouragement  he  had  always  attached  a  de- 
servedly high  value.  Three  sous  were  born  of  this  union, 
of  whom  two  died  in  infancy,  and  the  third  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight.* 

In  the  autumn  of  1888,  Mr.  Howland  met  with  finan- 
cial misfortunes  by  which  he  lost  a  large  portion  of  his 
property.  He  sold  the  house  in  which  he  had  lived  since 
1834  and  took  up  his  residence  with  Mrs.  Frederic  S. 
Giftbrd,  a  grand-niece  of  Mrs.  Howland.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  considerable  time  spent  in  Providence,  he 
passed  here  the  remainder  of  his  life.  It  was  character- 
istic of  George  Rowland's  courage  and  strength  of  char- 
acter that  he  accepted  uncomplainingly  the  trouble  that 
came  to  him  in  his  old  age  ;  and  his  chief  regret  that  his 
means  had  been  impaired  was  that  he  was  thereby  pre- 
vented from  giving,  as  he  had  hoped  to  do,  to  the  organ- 
izations for  which  he  cared  so  much. 

Up  to  the  last  year  of  his  long  life,  Mr.  Howland  en- 
joyed the  best  of  health,  and  illness  in  any  form  was  to 


*1.    James  A.,  born  June  18, 1830,  died  September  5, 1831. 

2.  George  Henry,  born  December  21, 1831,  died  August  1, 1832. 

3.  George  Henry,  born  June  3, 1833,  died  June  24, 1861. 


44 


him  literally  a  thing  unknown.  In  the  fall  of  1890,  how- 
ever, his  health  failed,  and  he  was  confined  to  his  bed. 
There  was  no  acute  disease,  but  he  seemed  to  be  suffering 
from  a  general  weakening  of  the  system  resulting  from 
his  advanced  years.  After  a  time  his  health  temporarily 
improved,  and  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  LS91  he 
went  back  to  his  old  habits  of  life,  though  hardly  with  his 
old-time  vigor.  In  the  winter  he  again  became  ill,  and  it 
was  soon  evident  that  no  hope  could  be  entertained  for 
his  recovery.  A  curious  phase  of  the  last  part  of  his 
illness  was  that  in  his  delirium  he  spoke  nothing  but 
French,  an  indication  that  his  mind  dwelt  on  those  early 
days  of  his  boyhood  when  he  first  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  that  language  and  conceived  for  it  a  lasting  love. 
Several  weeks  went  by,  during  which  Mr.  Howland  en- 
dured great  pain,  and  the  end  finally  came  February  18, 
1892. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  February  twenty-second 
in  the  Friends'  meeting-house  on  Spring  street,  where 
George  Howland  had  been  a  familiar  figure  from  the  time 
when  it  was  erected,  nearly  seventy  years  before.  A 
large  number  of  people  were  assembled,  which  included 
representatives  of  the  many  organizations  with  which  he 
had  been  connected  in  the  course  of  his  life.  When  the 
simple  services  were  concluded,  Mr.  Rowland's  friends 
looked  for  the  last  time  on  the  features  of  the  man  who 
had  so  long  been  the  recipient  of  their  respect  and  of 
their  love. 

There  were  many  beyond  the  circle  of  the  close  friends 
and  associates  of  George  Howland  to  whom  the  announce- 


45 


ment  of  his  death  brought  a  genuine  feeling  of  personal 
loss.  His  prominent  position  in  the  Society  of  Friends 
and  the  active  part  he  had  taken  in  the  commercial  as  well 
as  in  the  public  affairs  of  his  native  city  would  alone  have 
sufficed  to  explain  this  fact,  were  explanation  needed. 
His  kindliness,  his  willingness  to  aid,  and  his  conspicuous 
integrity  had  combined  to  render  him  one  to  whom  posi- 
tions of  trust  came  almost  in  the  nature  of  things.  A 

O 

retiring  disposition  and  a  strong  love  for  home  surround- 
ings made  him  shrink  from  rather  than  seek  public  office. 
Yet  he  believed  it  his  duty  not  to  withhold  his  services 
when  his  fellow-citizens  desired  to  make  use  of  them  ;  and 
to  the  demands  of  any  position  to  which  he  was  called  he 
gave  an  even  more  conscientious  attention  than  he  be- 
stowed upon  his  own  private  interests.  Although  a  man 
of  quick  decision  and  of  positive  convictions,  he  never 
refused  to  give  ear  to  opinions  which  differed  from  his 
own  ;  and  however  resolute  and  determined  his  subse- 
quent action,  it  was  not  undertaken  without  a  careful 
consideration  of  every  point  at  issue.  The  duties  of  each 
recurring  day  he  faithfully  performed,  and  the  result  was 
a  life  of  singular  usefulness  and  merit. 

The  New  Bedford  in  which  George  Howland,  junior, 
spent  the  most  active  years  of  his  life  is  f#st  becoming  a 
memory,  and  its  chief  characteristics  will  ere  long  be 
known  only  to  the  local  antiquary  and  historian.  The 
industry  which  made  the  city  famous  has  passed  away 
with  the  men  to  whom  it  brought  riches,  and  the  disman- 
tled whaleships  at  the  docks  bear  a  silent  testimony  to 
the  change  that  has  come.  In  the  present  era  of  pros- 


46 


perity,  the  second  which  the  old  whaling  city  has  enjoyed, 
the  wealth  acquired  in  former  days  has  been  diverted  into 
new  channels,  and  mills  have  arisen  to  take  the  place  of 
the  old-time  fleets  of  vessels.  But  however  far  New  Bed- 
ford may  advance  beyond  the  dreams  of  its  citizens  in 
bygone  years,  the  men  who  then  made  its  history  deserve 
to  be  held  in  lasting  remembrance ;  and  among  the  names 
of  those  to  whom  the  prosperous  city  of  to-day  owes  a 
debt  of  gratitude,  that  of  George  Rowland,  junior,  will 
always  have  a  high  place.  Few  instances  will  occur  in 
time  to  come  where  one  man  will  give,  as  he  did,  to  New 
Bedford  so  many  years  of  untiring  service,  animated  by 
so  deep  and  affectionate  an  interest  in  its  welfare.  And 
although  to  others  there  will  be  granted  broader  opportu- 
nities for  action  than  were  given  to  the  men  of  his  gener- 
ation, yet  fortunate  indeed  will  that  man  be  in  the  com- 
pleted record  of  whose  life  there  shall  be  found,  as  in 
that  which  belongs  to  George  Rowland,  junior,  so  much 
of  good,  accomplished  by  quiet  perseverance,  high  pur- 
poses, and  an  unstained  honor. 


APPENDIX 

The  following  resolutions  on  the  death  of  George  How- 
land,  jun.,  were  adopted  by  the  trustees  of  the  New  Bed- 
ford Free  Public  Library,  February  29,  1892  : 

It  is  with  deep  sorrow  that  the  trustees  of  the  New  Bedford 
Free  Public  Library  have  learned  of  the  death  of  their  associate, 
George  Rowland,  jun.,  and  they  take  this  method  of  expressing 
their  sense  of  the  loss  they  have  sustained. 

Mr.  Rowland's  connection  with  this  board  began  in  1855  and, 
with  the  exception  of  the  years  1857  and  1860,  lasted  until  the 
time  of  his  death.  Throughout  this  long  term  of  service,  his 
interest  in  the  library  was  keen  and  unvarying.  Its  steady 
growth,  the  new  conditions  and  the  fresh  demands  imposed  by 
the  rapid  development  of  our  city  and  by  the  changing  character 
of  our  population,  —  all  these  were  ever  carefully  watched  by 
Mr.  Rowland  with  an  eye  to  the  meeting  fairly  of  every  new 
want  and  to  the  omitting  of  nothing  that  might  render  the  li- 
brary a  more  efficient  factor  in  the  lives  of  our  people. 

Mr.  Rowland  was  the  first  benefactor  of  this  institution  with 
which  he  was  so  long  connected.  In  1857,  while  the  library 
was  yet  small  and  with  slight  resources,  he  gave  the  salary 
which  he  had  received  as  mayor  of  the  city  for  two  years,  then 
just  completed,  as  a  perpetual  fund,  the  interest  on  which  should 
go  toward  the  purchase  of  books  which  would  ordinarily  be  re- 
garded as  beyond  the  means  of  the  trustees.  It  is  particularly 
deserving  of  mention  in  this  place  that  when,  a  few  years  later, 
the  bonds  in  which  the  gift  was  made  became  of  no  value,  Mr. 


48 


Howland  deposited  in  the  city  treasury  a  sum  equal  to  the  orig- 
inal amount,  in  order  that  the  means  of  the  library,  increased 
by  his  own  generosity,  might  in  no  way  be  impaired.  The  fund 
thus  constituted  was  of  great  assistance  for  many  years.  And 
although  the  munificence  of  other  New  Bedford  people  has  since 
greatly  increased  the  resources  of  the  library,  yet  the  usefulness 
of  this  fund  has  in  no  degree  diminished  ;  and  our  shelves  will 
continue  to  receive  valuable  books,  which  will  form  a  lasting 
memorial  of  the  thoughtfulness  and  public  spirit  of  our  late  as- 
sociate. 

The  portrait  of  George  Howland,  jun.,  which  has  long  hung 
on  our  walls,  has  witnessed  many  changes  in  the  institution 
which  owes  him  so  much,  and  it  will  witness  many  more  as  time 
goes  on.  But  his  name  will  always  be  remembered  as  of  one 
whose  kindly  aid  and  wise  counsel  were  often  sought  and  never 
in  vain. 

The  board  of  investment  of  the  New  Bedford  Five 
Cents  Savings  Bank  adopted  resolutions  as  follows  : 

Whereas,  We,  the  members  of  the  board  of  investment  of 
the  New  Bedford  Five  Cents  Savings  Bank,  have  learned  with 
profound  sorrow  of  the  death  of  our  president,  the  Hon.  George 
Howlaud,  jun.,  who  from  the  date  of  the  incorporation  of  the 
bank  has  been  actively  and  continuously  connected  with  the 
management  of  its  affairs,  and  whose  high  character,  fearless 
integrity,  and  constant  devotion  to  its  interests  have  contributed 
largely  to  its  prosperity  ;  and 

Whereas,  We  desire  to  record  our  sense  of  personal  loss,  our 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  his  service  and  our  admiration  of 
his  character,  now  therefore  it  is 

Resolved,  That  the  death  of  Hon.  George  Howland,  jun., 
marks  the  close  of  a  career  which  for  more  than  half  a  century 
has  been  identified  with  most  honorable  and  useful  service  in 
both  public  and  private  life,  and  one  that  should  serve  as  an 
example  to  be  cherished  by  us  and  commended  to  the  admira- 
tion of  those  who  will  succeed  us. 


49 


The  directors  of  the  New  Bedford  Young  Men's  Christ- 
ian Association  took  action  as  follows  : 

Whereas,  Our  Heavenly  Father  has  called  our  beloved  friend, 
George  Howland,  jun.,  from  a  life  on  earth  spent  in  the  service 
of  his  fellow-men,  to  an  unending  life,  as  we  believe,  with  those 
to  whom  the  words  "  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant" 
were  addressed  ;  and  whereas  in  life  he  was  an  earnest  friend 
of  this  association,  assisting  by  his  loving  service  and  wise 
counsels,  therefore  it  is 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  board  do  hereby  express 
their  deep  sense  of  their  loss  and  their  firm  conviction  that  the 
example  of  our  friend's  life  will  long  live  to  encourage  us  to  lay 
aside  every  weight  and  to  press  forward  in  the  work  of  upbuild- 
ing young  men  to  maintain  before  the  world  that  firm  Christian 
manhood  which  our  dear  friend  so  signally  displayed  ;  and  it  is 
further 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  on  our  records 
and  that  a  copy  of  the  same  be  sent  to  the  family  with  whom 
we  deeply  sympathize. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  our 
deceased  friend  the  members  of  this  board  attend  the  funeral. 

N.  W.  GIFFORD,  Clerk. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  New  Bedford  City  Council,  held 
February  25,  the  following  resolutions  prepared  by  a  joint 
special  committee  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

Whereas,  In  the  death  of  Hon.  George  Howland,  jun.,  our 
attention  is  called  to  a  life  which  was  continually  in  the  lead  in 
promoting  enterprises  connected  with  our  city's  welfare,  growth, 
and  prosperity,  and 

Whereas,  His  public  spirit  and  exceptional  abilities  were 
early  recognized  by  his  fellow-citizens,  who  honored  him  with 
nearly  every  official  position  of  trust  and  responsibility  in  the 
gift  of  the  people,  and 

Whereas,  He   having  filled  with  ability  the  office  of  chief 


50 


magistrate  of  our  city,  we  desire  to  take  official  notice  of  his 
demise  and  place  on  record  our  tribute  to  his  memory,  it  is 
therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  City  Council  of  the  city 
of  New  Bedford  point  with  pride  to  the  life  of  the  deceased  as 
a  model  of  industry,  integrity,  devotion,  and  honorable  achieve- 
ments, worthy  of  imitation,  and  commanding  the  highest  praise 
of  a  sympathizing  community. 

Resolved,  That  the  assurance  of  our  warmest  sympathies  be 
extended  to.  the  family  and  relatives  of  our  departed  fellow-citi- 
zen. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  record. 

The  Evening  /Standard  printed  the  following  account 
of  the  funeral  of  Mr.  Howland  : 

Services  in  memory  of  the  late  George  Howland,  juu.,  were 
held  in  the  Friends'  meeting-house  on  Spring  street  yesterday. 
There  was  a  very  large  gathering  of  representative  men. 

Among  those  present  were  Hon.  William  W.  Crapo,  Hon. 
William  J.  Rotch,  Mayor  Ashley,  Hon.  Walter  Clifford,  Hon. 
Weston  Howland,  Charles  S.  Kelley,  Collector  James  Taylor, 
Postmaster  Gifford,  Edmund  Rodman,  Thomas  R  Rodman, 
Hon.  George  B.  Richmond,  Daniel  Ricketson,  George  F.  Tucker, 
George  F.  Bartlett,  George  A.  Bourne,  Gilbert  Allen,  Rev. 
William  J.  Potter,  William  Watkins,  Hon.  Morgan  Rotch,  Ed- 
ward S.  Taber,  Rev.  C.  W.  Holden,  Charles  W.  Clifford,  Rev. 
M.  C.  Julien,  John  W.  Macomber,  Rev.  E.  Williams,  John 

A.  P.   Allen,    Horatio   Hathaway,    Rev.   William    Carruthers, 
Capt.  Isaiah  West,  Charles  H.  Peirce,  Rev.  B.  S.  Batchelor,  J. 
C.  Brock,  Capt.  Orrick  Smalley,  Capt.  James  E.  Stantou,  David 

B.  Kempton,  Hon.  Simeon  Borden  of  Fall  River,  S.  G.  Morgan, 
Tilson  B.  Denham,  Robert  C.  Ingraham,  John  B.  Baylies,  Fred- 
eric A.  Washburn,  William  Gordon,  jun.,  Humphrey  A.  Gif- 
ford, jun.,  George  W.  Paine,   Lot  W.  Gibbs,  George  R.  Phil- 
lips, and  Rev.  Edmund  Kelly. 

There  were  besides  large  delegations  from  the  City  Council, 


51 


the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and  the  officials  of  the 
Five  Cents  Savings  Bank.  A  large  number  of  ladies  were  also 
in  attendance.  The  simple  services  commenced  with  prayer  by 
Ruth  S.  Murray  and  by  William  O.  Newhall  of  Lynn,  clerk  of 
the  New  England  yearly  meeting  of  Friends.  Mrs.  Murray 
spoke  briefly  of  Mr.  Howland's  symmetrical  life  and  character, 
and  of  the  lessons  which  might  be  drawn  from  it.  Mr.  Newhall 
spoke  of  the  record  of  the  deceased,  which  is  finished.  Charles 
Varney  of  Providence  alluded  to  the  necessity  of  the  living  for 
dependence  on  a  higher  power.  Prayer  was  offered  by  William 
P.  Macomber  of  Fairhaven  and  by  Mr.  Varney,  after  which 
many  of  those  present  looked  for  the  last  time  on  the  features 
of  the  dead. 

The  pall-bearers  were :  Edward  D.  Mandell,  representing  the 
Sylvia  Ann  Rowland  trust ;  Alauson  Borden,  representing  the 
ex-mayors ;  Loum  Snow,  representing  the  Five  Cents  Savings 
Bank ;  Jireh  Swift,  representing  the  Port  Society ;  George  H. 
Dunbar,  representing  the  trustees  of  the  Free  Public  Library  ; 
Augustine  Jones,  principal  of  the  Friends'  School  at  Providence  ; 
William  O.  Newhall,  representing  the  New  England  yearly 
meeting  of  Friends  ;  and  Oakes  A.  Ames,  representing  the 
trustees  of  the  Taunton  lunatic  asylum. 


INDEX 

Abolitionists,  12. 

Acushnet,  29. 

Acushnet  water,  introduction  of,  30. 

Allen,  James,  6. 

Allen,  John,  19. 

Allen,  Sarah,  6. 

American  law  review,  28. 

American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  30. 

Ames,  O.  A.,  51. 

Androscoggin  and  Kennebec  railroad,  40. 

Anthony,  Caleb,  13. 

Anti-Corn-Law  League.  18. 

Apennines,  crossing  of,  16. 

Arctic  whaling  disaster,  21 . 

Argo,  ship,  13. 

Associated  Executive  Committee  of  Friends  on  Indian  Affairs,  32. 

Avignon,  14. 

Backhouse,  H.  C.,  17. 
Bailey,  Capt.,  9. 
Barney,  A.  C.,  26. 
'Bewley,  Jos.,  20. 
Bierstadt,  E.,  7. 
Borden,  A.,  42,  51. 

Boston.  Clinton,  and  Fitehburg  railroad,  21. 
Braithwaite,  I.,  18. 
Brewer,  J.  M.,  6. 
Bright,  J.,  18. 
Brown  University,  35-30. 
Brush,  3/r.,  19. 

Candle-making,  6. 
Carnival  at  Koine.  15-16. 


53 


Cayuga  county.,  N.  Y.,  36. 

City  Hall,  New  Bedford,  garrisoned,  25. 

Civil  war,  24,  25. 

Civita  Vecchia,  14. 

Clifford,  J.  H..  22. 

Coffeyville,  33. 

Common  Council  [and  City  Council],  New  Bedford,  23,  24,  38,  39, 

49,  50. 

Concordia,  bark,  21. 
Cork,  city,  9,  10. 

Dartmouth,  200th  anniversary,  26. 
Delano,  Jos.  C.,  11. 
Diligence,  description  of,  13. 
Draft  riots,  25. 
Dublin,  10. 
Dunbar,  G.  H.,  51. 

Ebbw  Vale,  10. 
England,  travels  in,  10,  11. 
Evening  Standard,  5,  50. 
Everett,  Edward,  18. 

Fairhaven,  28,  29. 

First  Christian  church,  New  Bedford,  26. 

Florida,  23,  24. 

Forster,  Josiah,  18,  19. 

Forster,  Win.,  18,  19. 

"  Four  corners,"  New  Bedford,  26,  27. 

France,  travels  in,  13,  14,  17. 

French,  Rodney,  22. 

Friends,  Dublin  yearljr  meeting  of,  17. 

—  Indiana  yearly  meeting  of,  19. 

—  London  yearly  meeting  of,  17-20. 

—  New  Bedford  monthly  meeting  of,  28. 

—  New  England  yearly  meeting  of,  31,  36. 
-  Society  of,  12,  17-20,  24.  31-32,  37. 

Friends'  Academy,  5,  6,  7. 

Friends'  meeting-house,  New  Bedford,  6,  7,  43,  44. 

Friends'  School,  Providence,  36-37,  51. 

Fry,  Elizabeth,  18. 

Gardner,  Gov.  H.  J.,  23. 

Genoa,  14. 

George  and  Susan,  bark,  21. 


54 


George  Rowland,  bark,  21 . 
Germantown,  school  in,  6. 
Gibson,  Isaac  T.,  33. 
Giftbrd,  Mrs.  F.  S.,  43. 
Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  32. 
Green,  Mrs.  Hetty  H.,  28. 
Grinnell,  Jos..  26. 
Gurney,  J.  J.,  18,  19. 
Gurney,  S.,  18. 

Hampton  Court,  18. 

Haverford  College,  36. 

Havre,  13,  17. 

Hillman,  Zachariah,  7. 

Hoag,  L.  M.,  17. 

House  of  Commons,  18. 

House  of  Lords,  18. 

Howland,  Elizabeth,  5. 

Howland,  George,  senior,  5,  (J,  17,  19,  21,  31,  3(5. 

Howland,  George,  senior,  portrait  of,  40. 

Howland,  George  Henry,  23,  43. 

Howland,  James  A.,  43. 

Howland,  Matthew,  21,  23,  33. 

Howland,  Rachel,  25. 

Howland,  Robert  B.,  12,  20. 

Howland,  Sylvia  Allen,  6.  7,  23,  43. 

Howland,  Sylvia  Ann,  27,  28. 

Howland,  Sylvia  Ann,  will  case,  28. 

Howland  school,  Union  Springs,  36. 

Hughes,  J.,  17. 

Indians,  32. 

Iron  for  railroad,  8,  10. 

Jacksonville,  24. 
Java,  bark,  21 . 
Jones,  Augustine,  37,  51. 
Jones,  Mrs.  E.  C.,  26. 

Kansas  City,  33,  34. 
Kaw  Indians,  33. 
Kingstown,  10. 

Lawrence,  Kansas,  32,  33. 
Liverpool,  10,  11. 


55 


London,  11,  17-26. 
Lyons,  14. 

Me  Alpine,  W.  J.,  30. 

Macomber,  W.  P.,  51. 

Mandell,  E.  D.,  51. 

Marseilles,  14. 

Massachusetts  General  Court,  12,  22. 

Massachusetts  Senate.  22. 

Maynooth  college,  18. 

Mercury,  newspaper,  12. 

Missions,  foreign,  32. 

Murray,  Ruth  S.,  51. 

Nantyglo,  10. 

Naples,  16. 

New  Bedford,  becomes  a  city,  12. 

—  elections  of  mayors,  22,  24. 
New  Bedford  and  Taunton  railroad,  8,  10,  21. 
"  New  Bedford  Jlfty  years  ago,"1  painting,  26. 
New  Bedford  Five  Cents  Savings  Bank,  8,  23,  42,  48,  51. 
New  Bedford  Free  Public  Library,  23,  28,  37-41,  47,  51. 
New  Bedford  Institution  for  Savings,  8: 
New  Bedford  Port  Society,  29,  51. 
New  Bedford  railroad,  21. 
New  Bedford  school  committee,  35. 
New  Bedford  water  board,  42. 
Newhall,  W.  O.,  51. 
Nicholson,  W.,  33. 
Nisrnes,  14. 

Osage  Indians,  32-34. 

Paris,  14,  17. 
Parsons,  S.  B.,  12,  20. 
Patrick  Henry,  packet,  11. 
Pease,  E.,  19. 
Peel,  Sir  E.,  18. 
Pompeii,  16. 
Princess,  steamer,  10. 

Railroad  accident,  33,  34. 
Ricketson,  D.,  6,  26. 
Rome,  15-16. 
Rotch,  Wm.,  senior,  27. 


56 


Roitsseav,  bark,  21. 


Saint  Louis,  33. 

School  committee,  New  Bedford,  35. 

Sheathing  for  vessels,  17. 

Snow,  Loum,  51. 

South  America,  packet,  9. 

Stacey,  G.,  19. 

Stubbs,  Mahlon,  33. 

Swain,  W.  W.,  2G. 

Swift,  Jireh,  51. 

Syria,  missions  in,  32. 

Taber,  Isaac  C.,  24. 

Tarascon,  14. 

Taunton  Lunatic  Hospital,  23,  42,  51. 

Thomas  Dickason,  bark,  21. 

Thompson,  Gen.  J.  D.,  35. 

Thornton  block,  27. 

"  Tony,"  27. 

Tussaud,  jY»ie.,  waxwork  exhibition,  18. 

Union  Springs.  N.  Y.,  36. 
Varney,  C.,  51. 

Wales,  journey  in,  10,  11. 
Wall,  W.  A.,  26. 
Water  board,  New  Bedford,  42. 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  18. 
West,  John,  estate  of,  28. 
Whale  fishery,  5,  0,  21.  22. 
Willis,  Grinnell,  26. 
Wilson,  Matthew,  40. 
Winslow,  J.,  17. 
Wistar,  T.,  32,  33. 

Yacht,  injury  repaired,  7. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  49,  51. 


E" 

74 


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